Water proofing gloves.

[MagicPaddler]

I read on one of the canoeing bulletin boards about how to handle northern. Someone replied back “ I lip them” well that got my attention. He described waterproofing leather gloves and then using them to handle fish. I still would not lip a northern even with leather gloves on but I do ware leather gloves to handle fish and rarely get my hand wet and never cut or poked. For more than 10 years I have used waterproof leather gloves for fishing and camp chores.
How to water proof leather gloves method one.
What you will need:
leather gloves
Sno Seal
ziplock bag
car dash on a sunny day.
Put the gloves on and grab a handful of Sno Seal and rub it in covering the entire glove. When you can’t get any more to rub in put the gloves in the ziplock bag and put them on the dash of a car in the sum. After an hour of two put the gloves on again and rub more Sno Seal into them then return them to the dash in the bag. After 2 or 3 iterations of this they will be water proof for long enough to do a two week trip.
If you get them wet in the inside prop them open with a stick and set them in the sun for an hour or two to dry.
How to water proof leather gloves method two
I have only done this method one time and only tested under the faucet but I think this is going to be my preferred way of treating my gloves. There have been several threads on how to seal a tarp and I had some leftover sealer.
What you will need:
Leather gloves:
Clear Silicone Calk: I use “kitchen and bath Silicone ultra. White lighting W21101010” available at Menards OR Mainstays brand sold at Walmart.
Camp fuel: You can also use low odor mineral spirits but the smell goes away with camp fuel but not with mineral spirits.
Old tin can to mix it in and stick.
The mixture I use is 4 parts camp fuel to one part silicone calk. For a pair of gloves I would estimate ½ ounce calk and 2 ounces of fuel. I use scales and weigh it but you could guess at the portions by volume. Mix and mix some more. It will take several minutes of mixing to dissolve all of the silicone. When it is all mixed put the gloves on and pore a table spoon full in the palm of one hand and rub it in. Repeat until you can’t get any more to rub in. It took me 4 or 5 times. Then cover the can to slow evaporation and set the gloves in the sun to speed evaporation. When the gloves are no longer sticky (about one hour) apply a second and third coat.
After handling fish wash the glove or it will stink the next day.

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

A lot of experts say not to use silicone treatments on leather because it will degrade the leather over time. I personally have no idea whether that's true, but I'd rather use natural waxes and oils rather than a petroleum product. I use Montana Pitch Blend instead of Sno-Seal because there's no need to heat the leather with a heat gun or the sun. It can be applied at room temperature.

 

[MagicPaddler]

Well I will see how they perform this summer. From the inside the glove feels the same and not stiff. Never tried the Montana pitch blend. I have tried other leather treatments that did not last when the gloves got water on the outside. I may take a backup pare along just in case you are correct and they fail prematurely.

 

[ppine]

I have handled northern pike with needle nose pliers mostly. If I wanted to handle them now I would use a kevlar glove made for filleting fish. There are also neoprene gloves made for cold water fishing that would work just fine also.

 

[Guest]

[ Old tin can to mix it in and stick.

I use essentially the same mix, 100% silicon caulk and “odorless” mineral spirits for seam sealing tens and tarps. Way cheaper than silicon based seam sealer, easy to apply with a 1” foam brush.

The hardest part was trying to mix it with a stick. Then I found how to make this:

P6230943 by Mike McCrea, on Flickr

Dowel with some zip-ties at the end, in a drill. Faster and easier than stirring by hand, very thorough mix.

We had an old 5 gallon can of some deck waterproofing, half gone. The half that was left was sludgy semi-solid at the bottom of the can and the only opening was the little screw cap. A PITA to try to stir with a stick. Long dowel, couple of zip-tie, couple minutes of zzzzzzz with a drill, done.

 

[MagicPaddler]

I like your mixing method!
I use a jar with a lid so I can shake it to help mix it also. I have never used odorless only low odor mineral spirits. Is it really odorless? Can you smell anything after a couple of hours?

 

[scoutergriz]

Mike; you a phone tech? those are markers for cable bundles!
seriously, all I've ever used is fingerless wool gloves for any fish, That way you can tail them rather than getting any part of your anatomy near that buzz saw. The wool cuts through the slime without removing it which is healthier for the fish too, and lifting the tail to about 90 degrees immobilizes the fish enough to remove the hook safely

 

[Guest]

I like your mixing method!
I use a jar with a lid so I can shake it to help mix it also. I have never used odorless only low odor mineral spirits. Is it really odorless? Can you smell anything after a couple of hours?

It isn’t odorless, but is less stinky than most mineral spirits. After a couple hours dry time the tents and tarps have no odor. That 100% silicon and “No” odor mineral spirits mix seems every bit as good as the toluene & silicon Sil net stuff, just way less expensive.

https://www.canoetripping.net/forums...as-seam-sealer

(Skip the talcum powder, it was unnecessary)

BTW, Calibri = tiny font on a post, Arial = normal size.

Mike; you a phone tech? those are markers for cable bundles!

Not a phone tech. I have no idea where those little zip ties came from. Like many things I have what seems like a life-time supply of zip ties in the shop, from teeny little ones up to 21” long ones speced to hold 120 lbs.

 

[MagicPaddler]

Mike McCrea
Thanks for the Arial tip.
Try coleman or other camp fuel. It is a little cheaper and after a few hours there is no smell.

 

[Guest]

Try coleman or other camp fuel. It is a little cheaper and after a few hours there is no smell.

Funny thing is I always have no-odor mineral spirits in the shop. Coleman fuel, not so much; the only thing the 2-burner Coleman gets used for these days is melting wax for Fire-in-a-cans.

Coleman fuel contains cyclohexane, nonane, octane, heptane, and pentane. Whatever the heck those are. I know the mineral spirits and silicon caulk mix didn’t eat the fabrics, urethane coated nylon or sil-nylon, on our tents or tarps.

BTW, that zip-tie stirrer in the drill is actually a sawn off piece of a broken fiberglass snow stake. I still have it, set aside for the next time I need to make DIY silicon sealant.

One nice thing about that DIY silicone/mineral spirits mix is that you can make it as thick or thin as you want/need. BTW, my initial “50/50” mix was wayyyyy silicon thicker than need be.

I do think it helps to stretch (and clamp stretched) the stitched seams out before applying that sealer, or any sealer. With the big tarps that required an 8’ long table, with 10’ extension boards on sawhorses off either side.

The Noah’s Tarp has a 24’ center seam, and two 11’ seams on the sides. That is a lot of seam to seal. Even the seamed fly on a 4-person tent is longer than you might think.

A 10oz caulk tube of 100% silicone runs $8 and mineral spirits $7 a quart. More than enough to do every tarp and tent we own. For comparison GearAid Sil-Net seam sealer runs $7 for an ounce and a half.

1.5 ounces for $7, or twenty ounces for $15?
Lemme do the math. 20 ounces of DIY mix equals 13 tubes of Sil-Net.
13 tubes of Sil-Net X $7 a tube= . . . . .good gugga mugga, $91

One trip to the hardware store for 100% (clear) silicone caulk, no-odor mineral spirits and a couple 1” foam brushes and you’ve got yourself days of Covid-19 quarantine fun with every tent and tarp you own.

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

However appropriate silicone and petroleum products are for sealing other petroleum products such as nylon tents and tarps or bathroom tiles, I think beeswax, pine pitch and animal oils such as mink are the best long-term conditioners and waterproofings for leather. Although I have no idea what gloves are appropriate for fishing, I do use bison leather gloves for knife and fire work, but for some reason never thought to condition them. This thread will make me do so. I'll try my Montana Pitch Blend.

 

[dramey]

A lot of experts say not to use silicone treatments on leather because it will degrade the leather over time. I personally have no idea whether that's true, but I'd rather use natural waxes and oils rather than a petroleum product. I use Montana Pitch Blend instead of Sno-Seal because there's no need to heat the leather with a heat gun or the sun. It can be applied at room temperature.

I have used sno-seal for 50 years and have never had any leather degrade. I have a pair of LLBean Maine hunting boots that are over 40 years old that I keep the leather waterproofed with Sno-seal and the leather looks brand new. Must be armchair experts.

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

Originally posted by Glenn MacGrady

A lot of experts say not to use silicone treatments on leather because it will degrade the leather over time. I personally have no idea whether that's true, but I'd rather use natural waxes and oils rather than a petroleum product. I use Montana Pitch Blend instead of Sno-Seal because there's no need to heat the leather with a heat gun or the sun. It can be applied at room temperature.

I have used sno-seal for 50 years and have never had any leather degrade. I have a pair of LLBean Maine hunting boots that are over 40 years old that I keep the leather waterproofed with Sno-seal and the leather looks brand new. Must be armchair experts.

Not sure I understand your comment, dramey. The experts I referred to advise against silicone treatments for leather. Sno-Seal is not silicone. It is primarily beeswax, a natural wax, the very thing those experts recommend, along with other natural animal and vegetable waxes and oils.

 

[Erica]

When I used Sno-seal on leather boots, back in the days before gortex, I found it always stayed a bit sticky and every bit of dirt would imbed itself in my boots. That was when I lived up north. I had the Sno-seal layers on each boot sitting near the wood stove for the Sno-seal to soak in. Clearly I was doing something wrong if you are sealing leather gloves with Sno-seal and not having them get gunked up.

I like Mike's recipe for sealant for tarps and tents. The kind you have to buy is outlandishly expensive.

 

[dramey]

Not sure I understand your comment, dramey. The experts I referred to advise against silicone treatments for leather. Sno-Seal is not silicone. It is primarily beeswax, a natural wax, the very thing those experts recommend, along with other natural animal and vegetable waxes and oils.

I misread your post. My mistake. Thank you for the correction.

 

[dramey]

When I used Sno-seal on leather boots, back in the days before gortex, I found it always stayed a bit sticky and every bit of dirt would imbed itself in my boots. That was when I lived up north. I had the Sno-seal layers on each boot sitting near the wood stove for the Sno-seal to soak in. Clearly I was doing something wrong if you are sealing leather gloves with Sno-seal and not having them get gunked up.

I like Mike's recipe for sealant for tarps and tents. The kind you have to buy is outlandishly expensive.

For tents, maps, etc., I use Thompsons Water Seal. Very inexpensive. A gallon will last a life time. I apply with a foam brush.

 

[MagicPaddler]

Up date
I have used the silicone treated gloves on several canoe trips totaling 32 days. I used the gloves and loaned than out to others so they got a good workout. They were in the water about ½ of the days to handle fish. They were used to process fire wood many times. Some of the outer layers of silicone is starting to peel off but the gloves are still water proof and the leather is not stiff.